Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Decorating for fall...at least starting to!

We had a great weekend.  Flea market, family time, selling gourds, etc.  Last year, being big as a house pregnant, I didn't get into decorating much in the fall so this year I am all about it...that is, with the things that aren't in storage waiting to move into the new house.  UHG...taking FOREVER.

About a month ago, I had the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane.  I hung a right onto memory toll road, followed that through to memory highway, then a left onto memory tiny dirt road and ended up at the lake cottage that my grandparents once called home during the summers.  My grandfather passed away when I was 14 and my grandmother sold the cottage only a month later.  Most of my fondest childhood memories are from that lake;  boat rides, bonfires, cookouts and spending time with family.  

The couple who bought the cottage did so with EVERYTHING in it...furniture, art, linens, you name it, even the silverware and canned food in the cabinets!  Years and years later, the owner tracked down my mom and dad and said she had saved some items that she thought we might like to have.  Mom called me and told me she had the opportunity to go up there to get the stuff...uhm...ROAD TRIP!!  I was all about tagging along!  We planned the trip, a 4 hour drive each way, for a single day and I picked Mom up super early.  With our usual Twizzler/Starbucks combo we were ready to rock and had a fun time on our drive up there.  Pulling past the little general store, driving through the trees, and the lake coming into view brought back a flood of emotions.  I'm not a sappy person but I am a pretty sentimental one.  Walking into that cottage after almost 17 years and seeing that nothing was different...the same carpet, the same furniture (minus the itchy old couch), the same knotty pine walls, the same old mirror, the same everything...even the same smell, reduced even tough old me to a few silent tears.  Honestly I was fine until I went to the bathroom.  I know, lame.  But the bathroom smelled like the same soap!  They scent is the sense most strongly tied to memory and there is no doubt about that in my head.  I swear, the new cottage owners (who had invited us up because they found some items they thought we might like to have) probably thought I was doing lines in there because I was sniffing the smell so deeply.

We spent an awesome hour there and then headed out with a small handful of goodies, a few cross stitched pictures, an old telephone book, a metal wall hanging (which, if I were not such a nice person, would have resulted in WWIII) and a fish shaped cutting board.  Mom & I left there and picked up my friend Linda who lives just down the street, hit Turkeyville (a MUST if you're in the Coldwater area) and then headed home. 
I told you that jog down memory lane story so that I could show you my uber sentimental centerpiece for fall:



 Excuse the fact that I have no table cloth on right now...my favorite one is in the wash.  The fish cutting board is from the lake cottage.  :)  sniff sniff.  The big candle is from my same grandmother's house and the gourds were hand selected by little ones.  I love it!  Super cute, no?  Yes.  If you said no, then kiss my butt.

All that story just to show off my centerpiece.  Yup, that's 5 minutes (give or take depending on how fast you read) of your life that you will never get back.  

Since this post was so politically correct and so non-snarky, I will leave you with a silly photograph and something to wonder about.


The softer side of the State Police, I've always wanted to be transported with stuffed animals!
This cop had the entire back window of his car full of stuffed animals, most of whom were not identifiable as any specific creature (except Bambi).  I can't help but wonder why a big burly male state trooper would have stuffed fluffies in the back of his squad...but this guy does.  I thought about getting pulled over just so I could ask, but he was in a rush and I wasn't looking to get a ticket.
So why does he have stuffies in his car...the world may never know.

2 comments:

Raina said...

The state police have stuffed animals in their cars so when they attend accidents and children are involved, they give them a stuffed animal to focus on. They also give the stuffed animals to kids of domestic violence incidents. Any time a child is in a harmful or tragic situation the police give them these little stuffed animals.
I am a retired social w3orker and have been witness to this many, many times.
I love your blog!

Abby said...

That's AWESOME! I love that! Thanks for filling me in on the why. That's so super cool!